Vodofone (Ugh.)

vodofone. discover nothing.

A bit about communications in this country:

We would like to tell you a little story about our adventures trying to use modern devices here down under, lest you take for granted your ability to text your friends and check your email regularly.

We land in Australia with an Australian local phone (thanks jay) and expect to be able to just grab a sim card to start using the dang thing. Well the counter girl at Woolworths (no sweaters sold here, imagine a Stop and Shop) says the phone we have is probably unlocked and sells us a telestra sim card. Now a bit about phone companies here in Australia: Telestra is the equivalent of AT&T, wheras Vodofone is the Verizon in the locale.

Our phone is Vodofone and our sim card is Telestra. You would be surprised how long it took us to finally have someone explain that alas, this combination is an exercise in futility.

If you refer to previous blogs, ie: the bus, you might recall that it takes an hour to get anywhere on the bus. So, after an hour to get back to Woolworths, only to then be sent to the Telestra store and afterwards, another Woothworths. To do an exact exchange, you need the exact same person, at the exact same store, to refund you exactly which item you bought and now we finally have a simcard/phone combination that matches!

However, our story is just beginning:

One must retain all paperwork ever created about the particular sim card in order to know the top secret confidential activation code. This gem of receipt, liz threw away not 3 day ago. This pretty much brings you up to speed on our phone situation. Go online for a solution, you suggest? IMPOSSIBLE! The internet is currently down. Again. And when the moon next aligns with the Sun and the Southern Hemisphere of Earth we just may get a signal to investigate this predicament further.

So props where they are due: thank you to Elise’s husband, Alex, who insisted that she get the international plan on her blackberry. You rule.

Stay tuned…..